To Find A Friend
by Hota
Summary: Sora has sealed the World's and is on a quest to find Riku. How will he fare when they finally confront each other? Warnings: Spoilers for end of the game, slight yaoi if you want it. Complete. Please R&R!
1. Into the Darkness

**AN**: Started this after I finished the game. Sora has sealed the World's and is now on his quest to find Riku (I haven't seen the secret movie you get when you beat it in expert mode, I'm still working on it ^-^). Hmm, slight yaoi if you want it, I made it where it can be taken either way. I'm thinking it will be two parts, but I'll just have to see the reviews ^-^   
**WARNINGS**: Spoilers for end of the game.   
**Disclaimer**: A warning placed at the beginning of (most) fics to exempt the author(ess) from liability should anyone take offense. Example: Though Sora and Riku are fun to play with, they do not belong to me.   
Some OOC-ness, in my opinion... Sora acts more mature, but I tried to keep everyone as in character as possible ^-^ R&R and enjoy! 

* * *

To Find A Friend   
Into the Darkness

I promised to find you... I swore to find both of you... Back then, we made a promise to explore all the Worlds together... But then the Heartless came, and destroyed everything, including the Destiny Islands. 

Destiny Islands... such an ironic name since I'm the one who was destined to wield the Keyblade... Keyblade... a weapon created to seal the Worlds from the Heartless, to serve as a final light against the darkness of hearts. 

But you found a way to make another Key... one to seal people's hearts... I still can't believe you turned to the side of destruction, though I can't really say I was that surprised. You always struck me as the strong, indifferent type, even if you did seem to lean more towards the darker end of the spectrum personality wise... 

Maybe that's why I admired you so much... You were never afraid to be true to your feelings... or was that just a façade to keep people away? The way you always acted superior than everyone else, was that just a cover? An attempt to protect your heart? But why? And from what? 

Somehow, I think you knew what was going to happen... But if that were true, why didn't you tell me? Was I that naïve? To think our friendship held that much trust in it? If that's true, than I guess I'm a horrible judge of people. And if I believe that, I'm a horrible judge of myself... 

* * * * *

Sora looked up at a knock on his door. "Yeah?" he called, dropping the Keyblade to lay beside him on the small cot from where he'd been twirling it above his head. 

"We're about to land," came Goofy, opening the door and peeking his head in. "Gawrsh, are you okay Sora?" 

'Surely I don't look that bad, do I?' he thought. "I'm fine, why?" 

"You look like you have something on your mind." 

Sora shrugged and sat up. "Just thinking..." 

"Thinkin' about what?" asked Goofy in that cracking voice of his. 

He looked away, idly turning the Oathkeeper Keyblade in his hand again. Ever since End of the World and his defeat of Ansem, he had taken to carrying it. Even if they happened to run into powerful Heartless, which he doubted, what with the Door sealed and all, the Oathkeeper Keychain held more than enough meaning for him to use it rather than the more powerful Oblivion. 

"Just have faith Sora. We'll find King Mickey and Riku, and then we're sure to find a way to get you back to your island with Kairi," said Goofy confidently. 

He looked back up and smiled. "Thanks Goofy..." 

"Glad to help," he replied, giving one of his laughs before taking his leave. 

Sora shook his head with a sigh before lying back down. 'I sure wish I could convince myself of that,' he thought. 

It seemed like forever since he had sealed End of the World, but really it had been only a short time. The barriers between the Worlds were slowly being reformed, but it was still possible to travel between them. Even so, all his searching had found nothing. 

They had re-traveled to almost all the Worlds, but to no avail. After a quick stop at Traverse Town, they were now landing at the next to final one, Hallow Bastion, where everything had come together in a cataclysmic and chaotic 'beginning of the end'. 

There, the pieces had finally fallen into place for Sora, leading him to End of the World, and from there, back to Destiny Islands, where his so-called destiny was shoved in his face. 

The ship shuddered, signaling their exit from hyperspace and pulling him out of his thoughts. He closed his eyes, lying back down with a sigh, trying to clear his mind before they searched this World. 

When he finally did get up, he was in a daze. He didn't know why he was even still looking, but something kept pulling him on; much like what had made him continue forward when he got the Keyblade and wanted nothing more than to pawn it off on someone else and go back to his life as he knew it. 

Before he realised it, he was walking through the large castle door and up to the large double sided staircase. Looking up, he found a figure standing at the top, back turned to him. The boy's silver hair swayed as he turned to smirk at him before disappearing down a hallway. 

"Riku! Wait!" called Sora, chasing after him. He followed the older boy until they reached the room with that World's Keyhole. "Riku! What are you doing?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard by the aqua eyed boy, who was resting casually atop the Keyhole. One leg was drawn up with an arm slung across it, the other hanging idly, a familiar scene from his last visit to this World. 

"Waiting for you," was the reply. "I guess even after all you went through, you're still no match for me," he added with a teasing smirk. 

"Riku, quit fooling around; we still have to get back to our World before it's disconnected!" he called, ignoring Riku's last statement since it was just Riku being Riku, something he had missed in the past days... weeks, months? How long _had_ it been since he had woken up in that alley in Traverse Town? It all seemed like so very long ago and yet, at the same time, he remembered it all like it was yesterday. 

Getting the Keyblade, meeting Donald and Goofy and being dragged along on their search. Visiting all the different Worlds and seeing what, exactly, lay beyond the borders of his own World. The only thing that had been missing was that his friends hadn't been with him. 

He was pulled out of his contemplation by Riku's next announcement. "I'm not going back..." 

Sora looked up at him in surprise. "What...?" 

"I said I'm not going back," he repeated, more slowly. 

"What, you're going to stay here?!" he asked incredulously. 

Riku shrugged. "This World still has a black aura in it, so why shouldn't I stay here?" 

"In the darkness?!" 

"Why not?" 

He was silent for a moment. Did Riku mean he actually liked the darkness, even knowing what it did to people? But... "It's too cold," he said quietly. "And... it carries nothing but sorrow and lost dreams..." 

"So what is wrong with me staying here?" 

"Because it doesn't suit you!" he all but screamed. "Not the Riku I grew up with and remember anyway..." 

"A lot has happened to the Riku you remember... This is me now, and the dark suits me just fine..." 

"I won't believe that." 

"It's not for you to believe. I'm the one who's decided it and I'm sure we can both live with it if you leave and just forget about me," he replied matter-of-factly. The Keyblade seemed to find its own way into Sora's hands and he reflexively brought it up to bear. "Don't tell me you want to fight me over this?" he asked incredulously, giving a small laugh. 

Sora shook his head, confused as to why he was suddenly holding the Keyblade, but he wasn't given a chance to explain before Riku was in front of him, his own Keyblade in his hands and raised for battle. His Keyblade seemed to pull him forward against his will, as if it meant to destroy Riku like it would a Heartless. 

Riku raised his own weapon to block and Sora's hands changed direction to cut under the parry. He blinked as Riku seemed to shimmer as his blade passed through him. Then everything faded to black and they were falling. He reached out his hand, trying to grab a hold of Riku. "Riku!!" he called, determined not to lose his friend again, not after all they had gone through to get there. 

"Sora!" Riku called back, arm outstretched towards his. "Sora!" 

"Sora?! Sora!" 

Sora opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, clutching at his head as the suddenly bright lights hit his eyes and sent a pain straight to the back of his head. "Wha-?" he asked, looking around in confusion. 

"About time you woke up," said Donald, who crossed his arms and gave his best glare at Sora, which quite frankly wasn't intimidating in the least. 

"Heh... sorry, guess I dozed off," replied Sora sheepishly. 

"Well, now that you're awake, we need to go see if your friend is here." 

Sora nodded, picking up the Keyblade to follow the shorter duck out of the ship. He immediately took off for the stairs, expecting to find Riku there just like in his dream. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy. There was no sign anywhere that anyone had been there since they had sealed the Keyhole. 

He sighed in disappointment as they boarded the ship a while later. 

"Only one more World," Donald said, preparing for liftoff. 

"Gawrsh, they've just got to be there," replied Goofy. 

Sora sat behind them in silence for the short trip to End of the World. He was debating on whether or not to just give up, like he had done so many times before. Even if they did find Riku, what did his dream mean? That he was going to kill his friend? He would rather never see Riku again than have that happen. 

Quite a few times he had almost reached out to turn the hyper-drive off, but could never bring himself to do it. 

"Come on Sora, we're here. Quit zoning out," called Donald, tapping a foot impatiently with his arms crossed. 

Sora jerked his head up in surprise, quickly grabbing his Keyblade and putting his other hand behind his head with a sheepish grin. He sighed quietly when the duck turned and headed out of the ship, following behind. He warped into the Final Rest area, which is where he had agreed to search. They had decided to split the search since it would be the final one. 

He went to the door and ran a hand over it. The first and last time he had passed through, it had lead to his destiny. Maybe if he opened it now, it would lead to his new one. It couldn't hurt to try... 

He glanced around for Donald and Goofy, finding them nowhere in sight, which was what he had been hoping for. He preferred to face his next trial alone. With a deep breath, he pushed open the door and immediately fell into darkness. 

When he awoke, it was so dark he had to blink to make sure his eyes were really open. He sat up, shaking his head as he then tried to stand. After a few tries, he finally got his equilibrium back and he found he was standing on a familiar path. He blinked, looking around, fully expecting to see a huge, white door with stain-glass windows at the top. All he found was darkness. 

Slinging the Keyblade behind his neck, he began walking, looking for any sign of his friend. 


	2. Into the Light

**AN**: I know, I know. KH is set in AU, but I just had to throw in one tiny thing about Greek mythology ^-^; (A definition is at the bottom ^-^) Still haven't seen the hidden movie, that bitch Ursula is a pain in the ass... Heh ^-^   
**Disclaimer**: A warning placed at the beginning of (most) fics to exempt the author(ess) from liability should anyone take offense. Example: Though Sora and Riku are fun to play with, they do not belong to me.   
**WARNINGS**: MAJOR ending spoiler in this part heh ^-^ And... a little more... forceful? yaoi. I don't know, I think it's a little easier to see a relationship between them in this part, but it's all up to the reader, I promise!! ^-^ Not sure I like the ending, though... But please R&R and tell me what you think! I give pocky on occasion Which reminds me *gives pocky to Chibi-chan, The evil shour, and Estel for reviewing* And Estel, this part is mostly in Riku's POV ^-^ (I was gonna do that anyway though XD) 

* * *

To Find a Friend   
Into the Light 

They say time slows down when everything is in the balance, hanging like the sword of Damocles. I suppose that's why I could always tell that I was imagining things. But knowing it was a dream, an illusion, didn't make it any easier... Always seeing the ones that I could never see again standing before me, looking at me with a somewhat sympathetic look or questioning glance... even knowing they were hallucinations, it sent a sharp pain to my heart. 

Ha, what right do I have to complain about my heart? I gave it up willingly, did I not? But then... he managed to somehow survive his trial, even managed to complete his journey to that last World... and I could do nothing but watch from the eyes of Ansem as they fought; could do nothing until they opened the door. 

And then... I was free, somehow... I was suddenly back in control of my own body, and I was standing inside the door. I decided that I would stay there, instead of trying to get through, so I told Sora and his friends to close the door... I can still remember the look on his face, though I'm sure I'm taking liberty in interpreting what the surprise meant. Whether it was to see me alive, or to see me normal... A part of me hopes for the latter; that he had thought of me enough as a friend to hate what I had become under the influence of Maleficent. 

Hope... what a horrible word. That single syllable carries with it the weight of an eternity of anxious moments... and leaves only desperation in its wake. Desperation, anger, despair... A horrible word, but one of infinite power. The power to pull you forward, only to cut you down. A double edged sword. Yet still I continue to hope. 

When that mouse appeared, with his own Keyblade, he gave me hope that there could be a way out, even after the door closed. And so I held on to that... otherwise I would have let the Heartless take me long ago, and I never want to go back to being like that. I would rather die with false hope than to die in the knowledge that I had given it up once again. 

So, I will continue walking this dark path with no light to guide me. And if I never find my way back, then at least I will die content knowing that the others are safe, and that I at least had a part in that outcome in the end. 

* * * * * 

Sora sighed in frustration and sat down, mentally adding one more tally to his 'Most Stupid Things Ever Accomplished' list. Not only had he gone through the door in hopes of finding Riku, he wasn't even sure that there was a way _out_. So now, he was stuck in this dark World, which he was fairly certain no one else besides Donald and Goofy even knew about, with no way to get back and the disturbing sensation of being surrounded and watched by Heartless. 

Jumping to his feet, he continued on, determinedly looking for any silver in the distance that would give away his friend or the gigantic doors of Kingdom Hearts. 

* * * * *

He didn't know how long he had been walking, or how long it had been since he had slept, eaten, even sat down for a rest. Always wary of the Heartless he could feel watching him from a short distance away, he dared not even blink. He was growing tired though, and he knew he could not possibly hold out much longer. If he was attacked, he was certain he would fall, but knew, too, that he would at least take a fair amount of them with him. 

He stopped as the atmosphere changed, subtly but noticeably. He heard a noise behind him and he stiffened slightly, ready for an ambush. 

"Riku! Riku, is it really you?!" 

The silver haired boy blinked and turned slowly to face whoever had recognised him. His eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of Sora, and then even more as the younger boy ran towards him and wrapped him in a tight embrace. 

"It is you! I can't believe it!" he continued, pulling back and looking up at the taller boy with a wide grin, eyes shimmering slightly. The grin quickly faded and he stepped back. "Is this just another dream...?" he asked quietly. 

"I could ask the same thing... I thought you went back to Destiny Islands, how did you get here?" asked Riku. Though he was fairly sure it was just a dream, it gave him something to do, so he decided to go along instead of fighting it. 

Sora shook his head. "I couldn't. It wouldn't be the same without you. If you weren't there, who would be the resident 'I'm Badass and I Know It' island champion?" 

Riku smirked. At least this Sora had his old sense of humour back. "I'm sure Tidus could have easily taken that spot." 

Sora waved a hand in the air. "Selphie could take him no sweat." Riku raised a doubtful eyebrow and he shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway. Come on, we have to find the door so we can go home!" 

"Go home?" Riku laughed quietly and a shudder ran up Sora's spine at the depth of bitterness and hopelessness he heard in it. "This is my home... What that mouse said was a lie... there is no door, I'm stuck here." 

"Well if you're stuck here, than I'm stuck here. And since I want to go home, I'm not going to believe that. King Mickey said there would always be a door to the light... and I'm the one who will open the door; all I have to do is find it! The Keyblade will lead us." 

Riku's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm not in the mood for dream-games right now," he muttered, brushing past the slightly shorter boy. 

Sora blinked in surprise and quickly turned to follow. "Come on, Riku, we don't have much time before the World's are disconnected!" He clenched his fists; this was too much like his dream...or maybe it _had_ been a vision? A warning for him not to continue his search? But it was too late now. 

"Riku! Stop!" 

"I'm sick of dreaming of nothing but the past and lies," Riku replied, not stopping. 

"But this isn't a lie!" 

"No, but you're a dream." 

"Well, then we're having one crazy dream!" he replied, sounding slightly hysteric from fear that Riku had finally lost it. "Come on, Riku, this isn't funny... Turn around and talk to me!" When the older boy showed now sign of slowing, he lunged forward and tackled him. They fell to the ground and he quickly pinned the silver haired boy under him, concentrating to keep him from being thrown off. 

Riku struggled, managing to free a hand, and he reflexively brought it up in line with Sora's face, punching hard enough to throw the boy off him and send him rolling. He sat up and looked over to where Sora was lying, not moving except for the rise and fall of his chest to show he was still very much alive. He got to his feet and went over to him, somewhat convinced that he wasn't dreaming since he had landed a solid punch. 

Sora lie on his back with his eyes closed, slowly bringing one hand up to his face to feel a bruise already forming. He knew then that one thing from his dream was true, if nothing else. Riku wasn't the same. The Riku who had been his friend and rival wouldn't have hit him hard enough to bruise, let alone to throw him a few feet away. He had changed from rival to enemy to something that was lost... a wild animal trapped in a smaller cage than the one it had grown up in. 

He realised that actually, they had both changed. Ever since the Heartless arrived on Destiny Islands, their lives had taken a turn that couldn't have been foreseen. Since then, their paths had split, with few crosses between them. They had each found their own way, their own road to walk, and in the end it had lead them here. But whether it was for better or for worse... 

"You're not the Riku I remember..." Sora said, sounding somewhat pained and feeling fearful that Riku would say he didn't want to look for a way out of that place. 

"No, I'm not..." was the quiet reply. 

He opened one eye to peer up at the boy standing beside him. "...Does that mean you want to stay here...?" 

Riku laughed. "Stay here? Who would want to stay in a place where you can't even rest without fear of being attacked?" He shook his head. "No, I don't want to stay here... But I don't want to go back to the Islands either..." 

Sora sat up. "Why not?" 

"...Can you honestly tell me you would be happy there? Knowing there are other World's and being stuck on just one without any contact to the others...? Being the Keybearer with nothing to protect...?" Sora looked away. "Or are you going back to be with Kairi?" 

"I told Kairi that I'm always with her... but I also promised that I would go back... But I also promised myself that I wouldn't go back without you..." 

"You're going to have to break one of them then." Riku smirked. "You always were lousy at keeping promises anyway." 

"Not as lousy as you at least," he quickly shot back. He blinked, having an idea. "Hey! Why don't we continue exploring Worlds? There's got to be more than just the ones we've traveled to... The three of us could go, just like we said we would!" 

"Three?" 

"We can go get Kairi." 

"You think she'd want to go with us?" 

"Why not?" He received a shrug in answer and sighed. "Yeah... I think deep down... she was never truly comfortable with leaving the Islands anyway... No matter how much she wanted to see her home World, she had come to call the Islands home." He got to his feet and turned to face Riku, holding out his hand. "So, just the two of us?" 

"Out to explore new Worlds alone?" he questioned with a small grin. "Sure, why not?" 

"Just promise not to punch me anymore..." 

Riku smirked. "Only when you deserve it..." 

"Riku..." Sora said threateningly. 

"Fine, I promise," he said, putting his hand in Sora's to shake it. When he did, a bright flash of light came from a small distance away and in the fading light they could see the large doors of Kingdom Hearts standing beside them. 

Sora turned and held up his Keyblade. The doors opened before it and they stepped through together, going wherever Destiny felt like taking them. 

_Owari_

* * *

Damocles: Greek courtier to Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, who according to legend was forced to sit at a banquet table under a sword suspended by a single hair to demonstrate the precariousness of a king's fortunes. 

AN: Ok, there's the end ^-^ I was actually debating on whether to make this a multiple chaptered fic or not, but I couldn't decide. The only problem is, what would happen? So, if anyone has any good ideas, I'd be happy to continue, if not, I'll end it here and be done with it, it's totally up to you readers! So please review! Ja! 


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